Health Department to study impact of NYCHA lead paint failures on tenants

Inside an elderly woman's apartment in the Melrose Houses in the Bronx, paint is peeling from the kitchen and the bathroom. Many residents in NYCHA housing have expressed frustration with how the housing authority has been handling their lead issues.

The state health department will open an investigation into what impact NYCHA’s lead paint failures have had on public housing tenants in southern Queens.

State Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker announced the inquiry during a budget hearing Monday in Albany.

State Sen. James Sanders (D-Jamaica) mentioned problems with lead paint, as well as mold and heating outages, in NYCHA developments in his district, which includes South Jamaica, Ozone Park and parts of Far Rockaway.

“I'm very concerned about what's going on,” Sanders said. “What can you do about this problem that's in NYCHA? We need to have some type of resolution to this problem of mold, lead and heating problems.”

In response, Zucker stated, “Yes, the state will come in and investigate this.”

“Like you I have been following this very closely and I'm very concerned,” Zucker noted. “As a physician, as a parent, as a New Yorker the situation there is very worrisome particularly for the health and well-being of children there."

Zucker said the state Health Department will sit down with Sanders’ staff to determine the scope and nature of the investigation, which could include random sampling for lead poisoning in children who live in tainted apartments.

In an interview on NY1, Mayor de Blasio suggested there was no need for a state probe.

State Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker announced the inquiry during a budget hearing Monday in Albany.

"When it comes to health issues, the New York City Department of Health is the gold standard in this country,” de Blasio said. “We have the strongest public health capacity anywhere in the country. Always our partners in making sure that NYCHA residents are healthy. When we see a problem we address it and we're going to keep doing that."

NYCHA has come under fire in the last few weeks for failing to perform required lead paint inspections and relying on untrained workers to inspect and remediate apartments for the toxic substance.

Some elected officials and tenant leaders have called for the resignation of NYCHA Chairwoman Shola Olatoye who certified NYCHA was in compliance on lead paint inspections when she knew it wasn’t.

The authority is currently working on an agreement with the U.S. Attorney for Manhattan following a year-long probe of whether management has filed false documents with the federal government.